My name is Francisco Diaz and I am a first-year student at CCNY. My intended major is civil engineering, and as such, I’m very interested in urban planning, city design, and infrastructure. More specifically, I’ve found myself fascinated with the way cities are designed and stuff pertaining to public transit.
I was born in Rockville Centre, New York, but I lived the first two years of my life in Brooklyn, and have lived in Queens since I was two years old.
Both of my parents are immigrants from the Dominican Republic, and I have visited somewhat consistently since I was a kid. The last time I visited was in February 2022. I always enjoy it whenever I visit, because it is nice to be able to experience the places where my parents spent a good chunk of their lives, and it also makes me feel more connected with my heritage. I don’t know if there’s a right way to describe it, but it kind of fills me with a sense of pride to be able to visit my parents’ home country.
Below are some more photos of the G35 (affectionately named God’s Chariot) and myself.
As you can tell by now, I’m pretty big into cars. I don’t know if I have a specific moment or event which led to me liking cars so much, but I’ve been interested in them for about as long as I can remember. Above is a link to a video from Doug DeMuro, who is a YouTuber who makes automotive content and car reviews. I love watching his videos, no matter what type of car he’s discussing (although I have an a particular affinity for Mercedes, Porsches, and BMWs). I actually think I’ve watched every single video of his!
Sometimes when I’m bored, I’ll go through car auction websites and just look through random auctions. Other times, I’ll watch other videos about various different cars. And any time, and I mean literally any time, I am outside of the house, I am always on the lookout for cool cars or stuff that looks interesting. I can’t count the times I’ve pointed out random cars on the street to my dad while we’re driving, or how many times I’ve sat down with him explaining whatever new car is coming out or what I think of x car or y car, and he sits and listens to me patiently every time.
Something else which interests me a lot is music! My favorite artist of all-time would have to be Romeo Santos. He is Dominican singer from the Bronx who primarily makes Bachata – which is a genre of music from the Dominican Republic. I remember listening to his songs a lot when I was growing up, and so listening to his music is both enjoyable because I think the music is great, but also because it is nostalgic. I also like listening to his music, and other Latin American artists in general, because it makes me feel connected to my heritage, which I think is a very cool feeling. Here are links to two of my favorite songs of his (Sidenote- picking just two songs was an extremely painstaking task).
Another artist whose music I’ve gotten into a lot recently is Rauw Alejandro, who is a Puerto Rican singer. I started listening to his music a couple of months ago, and he’s now my second most-played artist (after Romeo). I also got to go to his concert in Barclays Center in March, which was a phenomenal experience! Below, I’ve linked two songs of his which I really enjoy.
